The End Of All Things

chapter one

It's terrifying, the way this world has become. What is even more terrifying is that nobody saw it coming, nobody can find a way to stop it. In just twenty-four hours the world was crumbling apart like sand seeping through the palm of your hand. The sick only got more sick, and they died, only to be brought back to life with a new craving for flesh.

It's terrifying how the world got so quiet. No more noise of cars whizzing by on the road, or the chatter of people as they briskly made their way from point to point. There was no more factories, or radio, or music. It was silent most of the time, the only music that could be heard was the growling of the zombies. It didn't have that nice of a melody.

It was wandering aimlessly through town to find shelter that Olivia thought these things. It wasn't wise, to be so caught up in her thoughts, but she felt she could allow herself a few moments to let herself think about how life was before its downfall. She missed civilization; people became so brutal once laws were no more and it was a free-for-all for surviving. She remembered barricading herself in her college dormitory, watching the news for the first few days of the outbreak. The stories of people going savage, killing each other over something as small as a protein bar. It was disastrous, and it scared her to no end. It made her ponder about her loved ones, and her friends, if they made it. And even if she hadn't seen him, contacted him, she hoped he was OK too. She never stopped caring. Olivia also often wondered if the pandemonium that followed the outbreak made the virus spread faster.

She walked through the streets of the abandoned town, only hearing the sounds of her boots in time with her sisters. Olivia stole a glance over towards Annabelle; she had a stony expression, one she usually bore until they were safely secured somewhere for the night, or for however long they were going to stay. She could tell, her sister was afraid. The way her jaw was clenched and how white her knuckles were holding onto the strap of her bag. Olivia felt it too. The town was too quiet, and it made her feel like something big was lurking about and waiting to be drawn from its location.

"I don't see anything around here that can be useful." Annabelle huffed irritably, observing her surroundings. Olivia followed pursuit, glancing at the buildings that surrounded them. "Nothing! I'm sure we passed by two to three furniture stores in the last ten minutes! Olivia, there is nothing in this town."

"Quiet down. We'll find something eventually, you're drawing attention to us."

"There's nothing we can even draw attention to!" Annabelle retorted, and Olivia earned an eye roll from her sister. She trudged along regardless. There had to be something they could find, and Olivia wasn't giving up hope. They would find something, keep moving through to find survivors, a group, safety. Sure, they hadn't eaten for two days, and they couldn't go much longer living on leaves and scraps they found in the woods, but she had faith. They had been in town for about an hour, and the sun was going down too quickly. Night was not something anybody wanted to be caught in nowadays.

"Hey, I see something. A little quickmart, I think." Olivia gestured in front of her to a decaying building, the sign broken in two and dangling on the side of it. She grimaced. It was just like every other building in their vicinity.

"Oh. Thank God. I seriously thought that this town ate nothing but rocking chairs." Annabelle sighed in relief, speeding up her once to get in front of her sister. Olivia watched her tap the barrel of her gun noisily against the windows, waiting a few seconds in case anyone-- or anything-- would pop out. The seconds were agonizing and the sound was still ringing in her ears, but nothing came out. Olivia allowed herself a small smile before pushing the door open and gesturing for her sister to come in. A bell chimed as Olivia did so, and she allowed herself another smile. She knew that this was going to go well, they would find something. It was not often to get good luck and vibes like this.

The mart wasn't badly ransacked, either. Sure, there wasn't much, but there was more than some of the other stores held. Olivia remembered a store Annabelle almost got stuck in-- the roof was caving in due to the precipitation weakening the plaster, crumbling apart seconds after she escaped. The place was monstrous. Smashed alcohol beverages littered the floor, things broken and thrown about, and the little traces of food crushed until they were nothing but fine powder. They didn't eat for two more days after that encounter.

"Hey, daydreamer. Grab some stuff and let's get." Annabelle waved her gun in front of Olivia's face, snapping her out of the haze she didn't realizing she was in. She roamed between the shelves, putting anything that seemed remotely edible into her bag. Olivia scored some crackers, a pack of trailmix and a probably disgustingly flat bottle of Coca Cola. She considered it a win. "Hey, you find anything?" Olivia called to Annabelle, who shot her head up like a frightened deer.

"Oh, yeah. Some soup," she waved a can of tomato soup in the air, "gummy worms, and... some beef jerky. Nice." Olivia watched Annabelle grin widely, shoving the miscellaneous food items in her bag. She watched her sister look through the beverages, assuming that she was looking for any sort of liquor. It was nice to pass the time, decent if you needed a noise distraction. Olivia moved her way over to their small selection of batteries and medical supplies, only really finding a wrap of gauze. She sighed, but took it anyways,knowing that it would come in use somehow.

"Got everything?" Olivia asked, turning to find her sister zipping up her bag and heading towards the door. She could hear a faint growling coming from outside. Of course, there had to be something in the town. If there was nothing, then the town would just be one big trap. "Let's go." She pushed the door open, surveying the road left and right. Olivia didn't see any major threat, so she decided to head back the way they had come from. They passed by furniture stores, like Annabelle said, and could barricade the store enough to spend the night in there safely. She hummed softly a lullaby she had heard sung to her before, turning the corner of the street and almost immediately coming to a halt. Annabelle nearly crashed into her back, letting out a grumpy noise before lifting her head to see what the hold up was.

Zombies. A small herd of them.

It was if they knew they were coming. Slowly, their lethargic bodies turned their way and the gnashing teeth from Olivia's nightmares came back as they slumped their way towards them. "Shit, go. Go!" Olivia shoved Annabelle back, nearly tripping over her own feet to get back to the mart. They pushed the doors open, and Annabelle helped Olivia drag a shelf to barricade the door some. She flinched as the first creature came up and slammed itself against the glass, trying to push its way in. Olivia struggled to push the shelf more against the door, and zombie hands began to poke through the crack, aimlessly reaching for something, anything. More joined the one soon after, and eventually the group was pushing its way in slowly past the defenses.

"This isn't working, Ollie!" Annabelle looked around frantically, grabbing her little sister's wrist and pulling her away from the front doors. They scrambled to the back, and inside the marts restroom, locking the door once they were both secured. Seconds later, Olivia flinched at the banging that was at the door.

This was it, she thought. How their lives would end. So much hard work, their recent victory to go down the drain in a quickmart bathroom. She felt like crying in frustration at how senseless she seemed, and the banging only got louder in her head the more she began to panic more and more. She wouldn't have even been able to say goodbye. She wouldn't even get to see if everyone else she knew was okay, if he was okay. She slunked down in the corner, holding her head in her hands and tried to drown out the growls and the scratching.

And slowly, the growling stopped, the scratching faded, as if their attention was being drawn away from them stuck in the room. Olivia held her breath, listening as the growling got farther away, and eventually died off. She was scared, holding her knees to her chest. Silence filled the bathroom as she stared at Annabelle wide-eyed, anticipating them to come back.

They didn't. The groans of the undead didn't return. Olivia sighed in relief, letting out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding after minutes had passed. She got up to unlock the door before she heard another noise, causing her blood to run cold.

The entrance door bell chimed, and Olivia swore she could hear footsteps.